System and Method for Using Data and Angles to Automatically Generate a Narrative Story

1. An apparatus for automatically generating a narrative story about domain-related data from domain-related data, the narrative story comprising text arranged in a narrative format, the apparatus comprising: a memory in which a plurality of angle data structures are stored, each of a plurality of the angle data structures being representative of a characterization of data and having an associated applicability condition, the associated applicability condition for testing against data within or derived from the domain-related data to support a determination as to whether the associated angle is an accurate characterization of the domain-related data; and a processor in cooperation with the memory, the processor configured to: test data against a plurality of the applicability conditions for a plurality of the angle data structures in the memory, wherein the tested data comprises at least one member of the group consisting of (1) data within the domain-related data, and (2) data derived from the domain-related data; in response to the tests, select an angle data structure that accurately characterizes the domain-related data; and automatically render the narrative story text for display using the selected angle data structure and at least one member of the group consisting of (1) data within the domain-related data, and (2) data derived from the domain-related data such that the rendered narrative story text describes the domain related data in accordance with the characterization represented by the selected angle data structure.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the domain-related data comprises structured data.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the structured data comprises at least one member of the group consisting of numbers and characters that pertain to at least one member of the group consisting of an event, situation, and entity.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the memory is further configured to store a plurality of phrasal generation routines, wherein each of a plurality of the angle data structures is associated with a phrasal generation routine from among the plurality of phrasal generation routines; and wherein the processor is further configured to render the narrative story text for display based on an invocation of the phrasal generation routine associated with the selected angle data structure.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein each of a plurality of the angle data structures comprise a plurality of points that support the characterization represented by that angle data structure; and wherein the processor is further configured to (1) select and assemble a plurality of elements of the domain related data to create an element list data structure that connects the selected elements to the points of the selected angle data structure, and (2) render the narrative story text for display based on an application of the selected elements from the element list data structure to the invoked phrasal generation routine to thereby output and assemble a plurality of phrases in a natural language that describe the domain related data based on the points that support the characterization represented by the selected angle data structure.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein each of a plurality of the angle data structures is associated with an importance value; and wherein the processor is further configured to (1) based on the tests, select a plurality of the angle data structures that accurately characterize the domain related data, (2) determine an order for an expression of the characterizations represented by the selected angle data structures within the narrative story based on the importance values associated with the selected angle data structures, (3) perform the element selection for each of the selected angle data structures to generate a plurality of the element list data structures, (4) generate an angle list data structure that represents the ordered angle data structures, (5) assemble the elements of the element list data structures based on the angle list data structure to generate an ordered element list data structure, and (6) render the narrative story text for display based on the ordered element list data structure and an application of the elements from the ordered element list data structure to the invoked phrasal generation routine to thereby output and assemble a plurality of phrases in a natural language that describe the domain related data based on the points that support the characterization represented by the selected angle data structures.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the processor is further configured to render the narrative story text for display based on a recursive traversal of the ordered element list data structure and an application of the recursively traversed elements from the ordered element list data structure to the invoked phrasal generation routine to thereby output and assemble a plurality of phrases in a natural language that describe the domain related data based on the points that support the characterization represented by the selected angle data structures.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) filter the determined angle data structures based at least in part on the importance values associated with the determined angle data structures to yield a set of filtered angle data structures, and (2) perform the order determination with respect to the filtered angle data structures.

9. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the angle data structures do not themselves comprise any specific text for the narrative story.

10. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein each of a plurality of the angle data structures in the memory is associated with a domain, and wherein the processor is further configured to select the angle data structure that accurately characterizes the domain-related data based at least in part on which of the angle data structures are associated with the domain for the domain related data.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) determine a parameter for the narrative story, the parameter comprising at least one member of the group consisting of (i) a focus for the narrative story, (ii) a genre for the narrative story, (iii) a length of the narrative story, and (iv) a point of view for the narrative story, and (2) select the angle data structure that accurately characterizes the domain-related data based at least in part on the determined parameter.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the processor is further configured to determine the parameter in response to a member of the group consisting of (1) user input via a user interface, and (2) a read of a configuration file, the configuration file comprising the parameter.

13. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the tests result in determination that a plurality of the angle data structures are candidate angle data structures that accurately characterize of the domain-related data, and wherein the processor is further configured to filter the candidate angle data structures to select at least one of the candidate angle data structures for use to render the narrative story text.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein each of a plurality of the candidate angle data structures is further associated with an importance value, and wherein the processor is further configured to filter the candidate angle data structures based at least in part on the importance values associated with the candidate angle data structures.

15. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the tests result in determination that a plurality of the angle data structures accurately characterize of the domain-related data, and wherein the processor is further configured to (1) prioritize the plurality of determined angle data structures, and (2) automatically render the narrative story text for display such that the generated text describes the at least one member of the group consisting of the event, situation, and entity in accordance with the prioritization of those determined angle data structures.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein each of a plurality of the determined angle data structures is further associated with an importance value, and wherein the processor is further configured to prioritize the plurality of determined angle data structures based at least in part on their associated importance values.

17. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) compute a derived feature from at least a portion of the domain related data, and (2) test at least one of applicability conditions against the computed derived feature in order to determine whether an angle data structure accurately characterizes the domain-related data.

18. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the domain related data comprises a plurality of data elements, and wherein the processor is further configured to (1) identify one or more of the data elements that are to be included within the narrative story based at least in part on the selected angle data structure, and (2) automatically render the narrative story text for display using the selected angle data structure and the one or more identified data elements.

19. A computer program product for automatically generating a narrative story about domain-related data from domain-related data, the narrative story comprising text arranged in a narrative format, the computer program product comprising: a plurality of computer executable instructions resident on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the instructions, when executed by a computing device, configured to cause the computing device to: access a plurality of angle data structures in a memory, each of a plurality of the angle data structures being representative of a characterization of data and having an associated applicability condition, the associated applicability condition for testing against data within or derived from the domain-related data to support a determination as to whether the associated angle is an accurate characterization of the domain-related data; test data against a plurality of the applicability conditions for a plurality of the angle data structures in the memory, wherein the tested data comprises at least one member of the group consisting of (1) data within the domain-related data, and (2) data derived from the domain-related data; in response to the tests, select an angle data structure that accurately characterizes the domain-related data; and automatically render the narrative story text for display using the selected angle data structure and at least one member of the group consisting of (1) data within the domain-related data, and (2) data derived from the domain-related data such that the rendered narrative story text describes the domain related data in accordance with the characterization represented by the selected angle data structure.

20. A method for automatically generating a narrative story about domain-related data from domain-related data, the narrative story comprising text arranged in a narrative format, the method comprising: accessing, by a processor, a plurality of angle data structures in a memory, each of a plurality of the angle data structures being representative of a characterization of data and having an associated applicability condition, the associated applicability condition for testing against data within or derived from the domain-related data to support a determination as to whether the associated angle is an accurate characterization of the domain-related data; the processor testing data against a plurality of the applicability conditions for a plurality of the angle data structures in the memory, wherein the tested data comprises at least one member of the group consisting of (1) data within the domain-related data, and (2) data derived from the domain-related data; in response to the tests, the processor selecting an angle data structure that accurately characterizes the domain-related data; and automatically rendering the narrative story text for display using the selected angle data structure and at least one member of the group consisting of (1) data within the domain-related data, and (2) data derived from the domain-related data such that the rendered narrative story text describes the domain related data in accordance with the characterization represented by the selected angle data structure.